Female Term, seated figure, and fantastical creature (recto); Satyr and study of a woman and child (verso)

Andrés de Melgar

ca. 1545–60 · Pen and brown ink · Drawings and Prints

The figure with outstretched arms in the upper left corner resembles an ancient Roman sculpture of Diana of Ephesus that was known through small-scale replicas. The goddess became a popular motif in Renaissance grotesque decorations, such as the frescoes in the Vatican Loggie and the decor of Prince Andrea Doria’s palace in Genoa. Like the leafy acanthus pictured in this drawing, she also appears in prints made by Agostino Veneziano. In the space of a single page, the author of this drawing quotes and elaborates on a range of printed sources, sketching his subjects in varying states of finish. At the center, he imagines a fantastical winged creature in profile, while a more schematic version composed of swift and abbreviated pen strokes looks on from below. See also comment for 52.570.314.

Artist

Andrés de Melgar

Date

ca. 1545–60

Medium

Pen and brown ink

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1952